Why does heat generation occur when iron oxide powder is mixed with lead soot and lead paste to form pellets?
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My brother works at a large company that recovers lead-acid batteries to produce recycled lead. The lead paste generated as a result of the automatic disassembly of used batteries (containing 70% Pb, 10% H2O, and 6% S) can be mixed with the lead ash produced in blast furnaces (containing 66% Pb and 7% S) to form pellets – similar to honeycomb coal pellets. When iron oxide powder (containing over 60% Fe) is added to this mixture, heat is generated. What is the principle behind this?
Hello, what you added is not iron oxide powder, but fermented iron powder
Lead soot contains elemental lead and lead sulfide; at low temperatures, it oxidizes to form lead oxide, lead sulfate, basic lead carbonate, etc. These reactions are exothermic.
What is fermented iron powder? It can’t be found online
The lead-containing material you use has a low sulfur content, so that shouldn’t be the reason. The iron powder you add is likely fermented iron powder; you can find out by asking the supplier.